Thursday, 8 May 2014

The Wordiest and Most Biased Guide to Tokyo Ever (Part 2 of 2)

The west side is shopping heaven. There are some great cultural and tourist-friendly sights as well, but the shopping, oh, the shopping. Most of the districts that I'll cover are pretty much in a straight line running from Ikebukuro in the north, down through Shibuya in the south. Both JR Yamanote line and the brown Metro Fukutoshin line run right through this sequence of metropolitan madness.

The order goes:IkebukuroShinjuku (JR)/Shinjuku-Sanchome (Metro)Harajuku (JR)/Meiji-Jingu Mae (Metro)ShibuyaLastly, Nakano Broadway, the hidden geek wonderland of resale stores, is located just west of the string between Ikebukuro and Shinjuku.Topics Covered: Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Nakano

That was all in one morning (though admittedly, it was from New Years Day sales). No regrets.

West Side

Ikebukuro

Starting
with the top of the western tokyo areas that I'll review, Ikebukuro is
on the northwest side of town, accessible by a number of different
trains, though I always seem to wind up getting there via the brown
Metro Fukutoshin line (take this south for Shinjuku, Harajuku and
Shibuya), the red Metro Marunouchi line or the JR Yamanote line.
Ikebukuro Stn is the busiest train station in the world. If you come
here during morning rush hour, be well prepared. It may be a huge
station and rush hour can feel like the entire population of New York is
crammed inside it.

This
is one of my favourite areas in town to wander around. It's got a
little of everything that I love, 2nd hand anime stores, gaming arcades,
plenty of good food, a cat cafe, a Closet Child (or THE Closet Child if
you're in the market for some 2nd hand dolls) and plenty of other fun
stuff. There's a street leading to Sunshine City that's often known as
Otome Road. It's put out there as shopping heaven for women otaku, but
it's really just a few shops that sells goods popular with fandoms with
mainly female followings (aka a lot of yaoi or series with yaoi
undertones). It's nothing to write home about, but definitely worth a
visit on your way to Sunshine City. There's actually a fair bit of
other merchandise mixed in there. K-Books and Lashing Bang are my long
time favourites. Not all of their wares are cheap, but I love looking
through the clearance bins in front and sometimes inside the stores. So
many great things for a buck or two!

Sunshine City is an epic
mall that is practically a whole city in a single building. There are
government offices, a huge shopping center, a food amusement park, a
planetarium and even an aquarium contained within.

The
food amusement park, Namjatown, is cute, but not really worth going out
of your way to visit. Instead, you'll probably get the biggest bang
for your buck to just pick up a flyer as you pass by as a cute souvenir.
They have a lot of themed food, but the actual items are not quite as
beautiful and exciting as they look on the flyer. The fact that it's a
food court set up instead of a cafe set up also take away from the
experience.

There is also a Seiyu (grocery superstore) located here, although the
entrance is actually across the street from Sunshine City. If you're
living in the area, the Seiyu's useful, but there's also plenty of other
cheap places to eat here.

Other stores worth noting:

There's a large Animate just off the main strip (just off from the massive gaming arcades).

Cafe Nekorobi
(a cat cafe) is also nearby. Nekorobi charges a higher hourly rate,
but drinks, some basic snacks as well as cat treats are included. I
really enjoyed visiting it. It helps that the cats are all rescued cats
(adopted by the owner, who is totally a crazy cat person), which is a
cause that I'm glad to support. During the weekdays, the number of
visitors is very low, so you get pretty good attention from the cats
even without treats. If you've been to a cat cafe overseas, Japan might
have a treat for you. I recently visited the Cat Emporium that just
opened in London, England and the cat experience was very different.
The key difference was the amount of open space and how furniture was
oriented. My experience at the Cat Emporium contained very few actual
cat sightings since most of the cat furniture was along the outside of
the room or areas where you could not easily find them and any plans to
watch them from your seat? Forget about it. In Japan, most cat cafe
have seating for people around the outside of the room with most cat
furniture (ie. cat trees) in the center of the room, so even if they're
just napping, you can still watch them nap in all their furry glory.
Nekorobi just had cats everywhere. Purin (white cat above) attempted to
escape as we came in the door (apparently he does this ALL. THE. TIME.)
and one of their main coons (Sugar, as pictured above) greeted us atop
the slipper rack while their other main coon was waiting on the bathroom
counter to lick customers' hands dry as they washed up. When the staff
went to enter our info into the laptop they use to keep track of
customers coming in...

Cat (Doraemon, the silver tabby) was sleeping on the staff laptop.

And when I went to sit down, my seat was immediately taken (by Anko, a British Shorthair).

Cat
cafe visit is a must if you ask me, and it's a perfect way to take a
break from walking and catch your breath from the Japanese summer heat
or a sudden storm (or if you need an emergency recharge on your cell
phone as most cat cafes in Japan will have recharge stations for
customer electronics). Nekorobi might be slightly more expensive by the
hour compared to some other cat cafes, but cat treats and unlimited
beverages (both hot and cold from a massive and awesome drink machine)
come as part of the package. There's also Nekobukuro just around the corner, another cat cafe.

Seibu
and Tobu department stores have massive food markets in the basement
level (most are ready-to-eat). Many are fancy, specialty foods. More
expensive than super market or convenience store meals, but still
affordable (~$10-15 per meal would cover most people). Many offer end
of day discount sales (usually 10-30% off) after 7pm.

Easy going cat cafes.

Indisputably the easiest UFO catchers in town (still not crazy easy, but generally more win-able than other areas).

Sunshine City has a Seiyu (that giant super market again) just across from it.

Drawbacks

Busiest train station in the world (seriously). Rush hour can be soul (and body) crushing if you're unprepared.

Shinjuku

Shinjuku
is my favourite area of Tokyo that I have stayed in and one of my
favourite areas overall. It has a bit of everything plus some sights
that you wouldn't be able to easily find in other areas. The main hub
of this district is east of Shinjuku STN, although there are sights
worth noting in every direction.

For the tourist, go west for the
Metropolitan government building. Its observation deck is one of the
best views in Tokyo and it's totally free!

In the southwest, you'll
find the Shinjuku West Yodobashi, which is actually several small buildings
spread over 2 small blocks as opposed to the standard singular massive
building that Yodobashi more often occupies. My favourite part of
Yodobashi is the entire floor of gachapon (capsule toys). They dispense
some fun collectibles and is a great one stop source of souvenirs. (Update: The gachapon floor has been repurposed for TCG machines. The gachapon machines have been relocated right across the street from the entrance of the building to their own dedicated mini-location which has a tiny storefront with a few machines at street level and the build of the machines in the basement.)

If
you're in a bind and not sure what sort of wacky souvenirs to buy for
your friends, gachapons are a convenient and thrifty way to go.

You'll
also find the district's main post office south of the station, just on
your way to Yodobashi. It has extended hours compared to the other
smaller post offices and it also offers a full range services and
products.

North
to exit D5 of Shinjuku Stn is the place to go if you're a fan of
Japanese street fashion. This will lead you right across from the
Shinjuku Closet Child. If you hang a right from this exit and continue
up the street until you come across a 7-11 in the middle of an odd K
shaped split across the street. Behind the 7-11 you'll find Pure Sound,
which is primarily a 2nd hand J-rock CD and music memorabilia, but they
also have a nice little selection of various J-fashion, most of which
is more on the punk/visual kei side of the spectrum, but a couple of
solid racks of lolita can also be found. Finally, if you continue down
this little street, you'll find Closet Child Men's in it's new home on
the ground floor of a small building.

Lastly,
east of the station is the central hub of the partying, shopping and
sightseeing in this area. You'll have to cross under the train tracks
before you come to the center of the fun. Immediately left once you've
passed the train tracks, you'll find Pepe, which has a 100 yen store,
CanDo, on its top levels. Continuing along the main street, you'll
find a 24 hr Don Quixote (recognizable by their mascot, a round blue
penguin, lit up in lights on the top floor) on the north side (on your
left) and a Taito Game Station on the south side (on your right).
Shinjuku is one of my favourite places for UFO catchers. They're some
of the easiest arcades around this area, quite possible because it's a
big tourist attraction and they need the games to be reasonable to keep
the tourists excited and happy. At one of the smaller arcades in the
area, a staffer saw me win a big hand full of prizes from one machine
and came over to ask me to wait while he piled the remaining prizes up
so I'd be sure to win many more with my remaining plays. It's no wonder
I love Shinjuku so much...

I walked away from the arcades after winning 3 Prince Ar Pacassos and 4 Alpaca Evolution plushies...all in one day.

If
you hang a right at Taito and continue down to almost the end of the
short pedestrian shopping street, you'll find Okadaya, a favourite of
local costumers and crafters. It occupies two buildings side by side
which are linked on the upper floors by narrow hallways. One side sells
fiber goods (fabric, thread, yarn, etc) and the other side sells all
kinds of crafting goods (everything from feathers to sequins to
millinery flowers). Continue past this and you'll find yourself facing
Lumine Est (a fashion mall) further south or if you hang an immediate
left at the end of the pedestrian street, you'll find ALTA, which is
sometimes viewed as Shinjuku's answer to Shibuya 109, the mecha of Gyaru
fashion.

Not
interested in Gyaru fashion? Stop by anyway and grab a snack from the
booth outside selling croissant taiyaki with a sugar glaze, a modern
fusion twist on a classic Japanese pastry. It's one of my favourite
guilty pleasures. Mmm...

If you go back to the Don
Quixote, in the nearby buildings along the main stretch alongside the
discount store, you'll find a number of fun cafes including a building
containing LockUp (a jail/dungeon themed ikazaya, Japanese style
bar/restaurant), Mysterious (a futuristic/space age izakaya) and Arabian
Rock (an Aladdin-esque take on an Arabian themed izakaya). If you look
upward at the 6th floor of the neighbouring doorway, you'll see the
Calico Cat Cafe, a sizable lounge of a cafe filled with dozens of pure
breed cats. The themed izakayas usually have a table or two available
at almost any hour, but if you want to visit the cat cafe, plan to come
during off-peak hours like you would do with the maid cafe's of
Akihabara. Don't have time in your schedule to work around Calico's
timing? Check my section on Ikebukuro for details about the cat cafes
you can visit there.

If
you head into the side streets at Don Quixote, you'll find yourself in
the infamous Kabuki-cho, Tokyo's red light district. During daytime,
it's mostly a rather benign shopping area, but as the sun sets, it
becomes a city of lights, filled with young hosts suited up to liven up
the night. The area isn't exactly dangerous, but be on your guard if
random strangers approach you and try to pull you into the shops in the
area. The host and hostess clubs here aren't just full of pretty
people; they'll put a pretty massive and unbelievable hole in your
wallet, too. Best to just watch from a distance.

For
those who haven't gotten enough lolita shopping done at Closet Child
and Pure Sound, head southeast towards Shinjuku Sanchome Stn to find
Marui Annex, the top floor of which is the new home of many top lolita brands that use to inhabit the late Marui One.

Area Summary

Wide array of food selection.

Restuarants and stores have long/late hours; stores are usually open until about 9pm.

Home to TWO 2nd hand lolita stores, plus a more elusive Closet Child Men's.

Lots
of local shops (Gyaru, lolita, crafts, general) and close proximity to
other popular shopping areas (Shibuya, Harajuku and Ikebukuro all
accessible within a couple of train stops via JR Yamanote or Metro
Fukutoshin line).

2nd easiest UFO catchers in town (slightly more difficult than Ikebukuro, but more arcades in a single area).

Kabuki-cho
and the numerous hosts. They're kind of fun to spy on from a distance.
I still can't help but be entertained when I see one.

Drawbacks

Kabuki-cho
and the numerous hosts. It can get kind of sketchy being the "red
light district" and all, so I'd recommend having a buddy if you're
wandering around late at night. It's not really that bad though as
amongst the host and hostess clubs, there are a lot of bars that are
popular with young people (though more and more of these young people
will be drunk as the night wears on).

Harajuku / Meiji Shrine

Although
all the guides on the internet will talk about the Meiji shrine with
just a brief mention of the street fashion scene, you'll find my review
of it completely the opposite with most of the emphasis on shopping.

You
can access Harajuku via the ever crowded Harajuku Stn on the JR
Yamanote line which will land you on the west end of Takeshita Dori
(that legendary J-fashion pedestrian shopping street) sandwiched between
all dem clothing and the massive Meiji shrine. Or if you're coming via
Metro, the Meiji Jingu Mae stop on the Fukutoshin brown line will land
you right on the block. Exit 5 from the Metro will land you right
around the corner from LaForet and Exit 3 will land you just over from JR's Harajuku Stn and the entrance to Takeshita Dori.

If you're
there on a Sunday, take a look around as you cross the bridge towards
the Meiji Shrine. Sunday is traditionally "Cosplay Day" on Harajuku
Bridge. Historically (quite popular in the 90's and early 2000's), many
young people would gather on the bridge to hang out while wearing all
kinds of visual kei cosplay and alternative (usually punk and gothic)
J-fashions. The scene has died down quite a bit over time, but if
you're lucky, you'll still be able to see some fun outfits. Don't take
the name too seriously. Cosplay Day existed long before lolita fashion
came into the scene.

If
you're travelling with a mixed group of people, fear not, there is an
easy way to give the tourists what they want while the shoppers can take
their time. On the Northwest corner of the region you'll find Meiji
shrine. It is the largest Shinto shrine in Tokyo, and as far as
"largest ____ shrines in Tokyo"s go, it's a lot more bearable than the
over crowded tourist trap that Asakusa's Sensoji temple has become. On
weekends, you can often catch a glimps of a super traditional Japanese
wedding procession happening near the main shrine building.

Once
the tourist-types in the group finish with the shrine, Takeshita Dori's
worth a visit, even if they have no interest in J-fashion. The main
non-fashion attractions here would be the numerous crepe stalls. My
favourite is the one right at the entrance to Takeshita (across the
street from Harajuku JR station), Sweet Box. The different stalls all
taste about the same to me, but Sweet Box wins because they have a 50yen off coupon
that you can print or just flash on your phone for an instant discount.
Japanese crepes are different than their delicate French cousins.
They're usually rolled into a massive cone shape, filled with cream or
custard, fruit, ice cream, sauces and even entire slices of cake. Very
much so one of the signature snacks of Harajuku, I find it hard to pay
the area a visit without inhaling at least one delicious, fatty crepe.
Don't worry about the calorie count. After a waltz around Harajuku,
you've surely burned enough calories to justify a crepe. Heck, even if
you haven't burned many calories, justify one anyway. Soooo goood.

Next
up on Takeshita is the largest Daiso in Tokyo. One of the most common
100yen store chains in town, Daiso has pretty much everything for sale.
At the Harajuku location, you'll find 4 whole floors of everything from
candies to stationary to wine. Yep, that's right, wine.

315yen
wine (although after the sales tax hike, it would be 324yen a bottle
now). That's a bit more than 100yen, but who'd have thought that you
can find full bottles of wine at a dollar store?

Last stop in
Harajuku for the tourist-types would be the ever giant Kiddyland, a
massive toy store. A short walk from Takeshita Dori, it's a great place
to spend an hour browsing the endless shelves of Hello Kitty and
Rilakkuma.

As for food in the area, you won't find much in the
immediate vicinity of the park or along Takeshita Dori. There's a lot
of snacky stuff though, so you may want to consider eating a light lunch
before arriving and then just have some snacks as you browse and go
elsewhere for dinner. For those who are stuck in the area during
mealtime, you'll find some places that offer cheap eats on the upper
floors of buildings and along the side streets.

If
you're absolutely starved, near the end of Takeshita Dori is a little
"Italian" buffet. It's in the basement of a building, but you'll see
their massive fake food displays on street level and it's almost
impossible to miss. Not perfectly authentic, but quite delicious
regardless.

You may also want to check out the food court in the
So-La-Do mall which is a sizable white building or if you have a sweet
tooth, Sweets Paradise, an all you can eat dessert cafe is located here.
Despite the name, they do have savory dishes as well in the form of a
small array of different pasta dishes that you can balance out all the
cakes and desserts that are offered here.

Now that you know where
to ditch your tourist friends for the better half of the day, let's get
down to business. Lolita fashion is SRS BZNZ.

Starting
at Meiji Jingu Mae (the Metro station) exit 5, you'll find LaForet just
around the corner (behind you) as you reach street level. Although
there are some brands scattered throughout the mall (Jane Marple is on
2F, Emily Temple Cute is on 4F, Algonquins is on B1), the majority of
the lolita brands are on floor B1.5. Alice and the Pirates, Angelic
Pretty, Atelier Pierrot (also sells Pina Sweet Collection and Triple
Fortune), Baby the Stars Shine Bright, h Naoto, Metamorphose and
Putumayo all have stores crammed into the lowest level. It sounds like
it's slightly in the basement, but it feels more like you're in B3 by
the time you're all the way down. Just keep going down until the stairs
won't let you go down any further and you'll find yourself surrounded
by all the glory of burando. Most of the major lolita brands with
storefronts in Tokyo are all represented here except for Innocent World
(which always seems to have their stores stand alone from the other
brands and hidden in the upper floors of an inconspicuous building).
Also not found here are Excentrique, Atelier Boz and Moi-Meme-Moitie.
Excentrique and Moitie can be found at Marui Annex in Shinjuku.
Atelier Boz's only remaining Tokyo shop is their flagship shop that's
floating somewhere between the intersection of Harajuku, Shinjuku and
around the bottom back end of Yoyogi Park which is the bottom half of
the massive piece of greenery that Meiji Jingu occupies (don't ask me
how to find this store, I have no idea either and the building looks
like a cinder block on google street view)...

Anyway, LaForet is
the place to one-stop-shop for lolita in Harajuku, but since it's in the
middle of the Tokyo street fashion hub, the selection is usually rather
picked over. You can sometimes find some nice stuff hidden in the
racks though and from my experiences, I believe the LaForet Atelier
Pierrot shop is the one that holds most of the webshop discount items,
so you can often find some niiiice items on steep discount. For lucky
pack shoppers, LaForet is also one of the few places that open on New
Years Day morning to start the madness instead of staying closed until
January 2nd (but I'll save that for another post).

Coming out of
LaForet, you have an important decision ahead of you. Turn left for the
Innocent World store? Or turn right back towards the metro exit corner
to head towards the Harajuku Stn end of Takeshita Dori?

If you
choose Innocent World, you won't see any signs of it from street level.
It's only a few buildings over, but it's on the 7th floor through a
narrow doorway beside a donar kabob stall. Take the elevator up and you
can't miss it. It's not a particularly busy shop being tucked away and
apart from most of the other lolita stores.

On the other side,
if you head left out of LaForet (or just follow the directions above to
go straight there from the Metro station) and turn the corner to
continue following the sidewalk (to walk around the block without
crossing any streets), you'll eventually find yourself facing Harajuku
Bridge. If you cross it, you'll find the Meiji Shrine. If you continue
around the block, hanging at Harajuku Bridge, you'll find yourself
heading down the street towards Takeshita Dori. At the base of
Takeshita Dori is the "arch". This, but uh...less Christmas-y outside
of year end.A sea of people is usually present. On weekends and holidays, it just gets worse.

Immediately
past the McDonalds on the left side, you'll find Paris Kids, an
inexpensive accessory store. Most items are 300yen before tax (I guess
that would be 324yen including the 8% tax now). Select items are more
expensive, but most of the loot, even a large selection of sterling
silver jewelry are fixed at this price.

Almost immediately next
to Paris Kids is the Daiso as previously mentioned. A good place to
ditch your non-fashion-loving friends, but also a good place to pick up
some vacuum bags so you can stuff more glorious clothing into your
suitcase.

As you wander down Takeshita, take a moment to look up
once in a while. There are many stores worth noticing that are above
you on the 2nd or 3rd floors. Bodyline and Closet Child, good stores to
visit for those on a budget, are both on upper floors of buildings
accessible via staircases on the exterior of their respective
buildings. Bodyline is located at around the mid-way point down
Takeshita, just as you pass two crepe stalls on your left at an
intersection where the street turns ever so slightly. You'll notice
ornate gold railings running up a curving staircase and at the top, the
Bodyline shop. It used to be a sparsely filled room decorated with
large, ornate gold and red furniture, but now it's a tightly packed
showroom of the bajillion clothing items that have been pumped out over
the years. A couple buildings past this, you'll find the ever beautiful
Liz Lisa store. On the tables outside the entrance, you can often find
discount packs or sets of clothing, even outside of discount season.
Next up is Closet Child. It takes up residence on the 3 upper floors
above Richards, a goth/punk type clothing store.

The
first level of CC is the lolita floor, filled with a multitude of Baby
the Stars Shine Bright, Innocent World, Metamorphose and all the glory
of burando. The second level is the gothic level. You'll find the
gothic brands like Moitie, Atelier Boz and BPN here along with other
not-lolita gothic brands like OzzOn, Algonquins and h. Naoto in droves.
On the top floor, you'll find the otome brands like Emily Temple Cute
and a bonanza of Q-Pot accessories.

Although there are 3 levels
to Closet Child, don't forget to pay for your purchases on each level.
They each have their own cash register and you must pay for your
purchases of items from each level on that level. The one thing they
don't separate between the levels are the use of their point cards. If
you're going to do some shopping, be sure to ask for one with your first
purchase. Use the romanji pronounciation "pointo kado" to request
one. They will put down your stamps earned from your first purchase and
if you place it down in the tray with your payment for each subsequent
purchase, they will continue to add stamps. Every 1000yen you spend
will earn you a stamp and each card will take 50 stamps. Redeeming 30
stamps will get you a 1000yen discount. Redeeming a card with a full 50
stamps will get you a 2500yen discount. That's a nifty 5% back for
every 50000yen spent (to fill the card completely). In the world of
lolita, 50000yen goes pretty fast, even when you're shopping the
discounts. For some, ESPECIALLY when you're shopping these fantastic
discounts. There is also a change room on each level where you can ask
to try on the clothing before you purchase them. They hold several
large sales each year, but keep in mind that during these sales, the
change rooms are usually closed. This is because the stores get mobbed
and they simply don't have the staff or the space to wait on people
while each person tries on a bunch of clothing.

There are a
number of other stores and shops that are worth taking a look at along
Takeshita and throughout the rest of Harajuku. Take your time and
explore a bit. Some shops like the h. Naoto main shops are nested in
the side streets and take a little bit of searching. I like to leave
the wandering for a separate day when there's not too much planned since
it's best to check out all sorts of places rather than spend your
entire vacation in one neighbourhood.

Area Summary

Meiji Shrine, the largest Shinto shrine in Tokyo in the middle of a massive park (Yoyogi Park).

Lolita/J-fashion heaven. If you have shopping problems, best to leave your credit card behind.

Delicious crepes. On a budget? Try Sweet Box's 50yen off couponthat can be used on any item. Give them a print out or just flash it on your phone when you order.

Largest Daiso (100 yen store) in Tokyo. Simply massive and awesome.

Kiddyland has a wild array of toys and cute character goods, many of which you won't find anywhere except in Japan.

Drawbacks

Cheap and easy food is not as easy to find.

Crazy crowds on weekends and holidays (especially Takeshita Dori).

Tired and want to sit down? Hahahahahaha, good luck.

Shibuya

I
honestly don't have too much of an attachment to Shibuya. It's the
gyaru holy grail, but for my interests, it doesn't have too much to
offer so this will be pretty brief.

Accessible
by Metro via a number of lines. It is a very important interchange
station, joining the ends of the yellow Metro Ginza line (convenient if
you want to minimize transfers and you're coming from the
Asakusa/Ueno/Akihabara end), the purple Metro Hanzomon line and the
brown Metro Fukutoshin line with the JR Yamanote line that circles
Tokyo.

Ikebukuro
has the world's busiest train station. Shibuya has the world's busiest
intersection. Immediately outside of Shibuya station, you'll find two
of the must see sights, scramble crossing (the aforementioned busiest
intersection) and Hachiko.

The
true legend of Hachiko is about a loyal dog who used to dutifully go to
the station to wait for his owner's return from work every evening.
Even after the owner died, Hachiko continued to go to the station to
wait for his owner every day for another 9 years before he too passed
away. The unwavering loyalty that Hachiko showed towards his beloved
owner is commemorated by a life size bronze statue that is one of the
most popular meeting spots in town. It's also a great place to people
watch. Shibuya is known for fashion, and if you keep watch, you'll see
many young people dressed in various local fashion styles, including the
well known Shibuya Gal (you get 1 guess for where that's from) which is
actually an array of fashion styles, though what they do have in common
is usually big hair, loads of make up, sparkling nails and some stellar
high heels.

As you stand looking at Hachiko, you'll also be in
the presence of what looks like one mess of a massive intersection.
This is Shibuya's famous scramble crossing. During the daytime, it's
just a big intersection, but if you are here during rush hour, oh boy.
For the handheld gamers, this is the location of the main screen for
the NDS game It's a Beautiful World (aka The World Ends with You in
western markets).

Beyond this, if you look across the street and
slightly to the left (immediate left of the big glass Tsutaya building
which currently plays host to a Starbucks on the second floor) while
facing the scramble crossing from in front of the station, you'll find
Center Gai (literally Center Street) with a small arch marking it's
start. It's a usually busy pedestrian shopping street. I don't feel
that it's anything terribly special, but my fashion interests mostly
center around Harajuku. It's a nice area to take a stroll and look
around though. If you look a bit further left of Center Gai, you'll see
the Gyaru/Gal mall, Shibuya 109. This is the shopping mecha of the
Gyaru style in Tokyo. If you have any interest in Japanese street
fashion at all, it's worth a visit. If not for the stores and clothing,
it's worth checking out for the array of highly made up girls in their
stylish outfits. If you're more interested in men's fashion, turn right
outside Shibuya station and go the opposite direction from 109 for 109
Men's, a rare spot of purely men's street fashion. Whether you want to
look a little stylish, or if you want to look entirely like a host,
you'll find some fantastic men's fashion items here.

Standard
shopping aside, if you go down the street to the right of Center Gai
(immediately right of the big glass building with the Starbucks), then
take a left at the 01City building (not to be confused with the plethora
of other 0101, read as "Marui", department stores), you'll find
yourself facing what I like to think is the cutest Disney Store ever.

Pst, look down at the base of the big, black tower of doom (which is actually a theater plus restaurants).

The insides are just as cute as the store front, with many areas themed to various Disney movies.

The
entire district is basically just shopping to me. You'll find a wide
array of shops, including a massive Loft (a crafts and home goods store
that occupies several stories of a large building) and a Mandarake (a
2nd hand anime goods resale store).

That's about all you'll get out of me for Shibuya. Sorry. I'll try to update this to be a little more exciting later.

Area Summary

Hachiko and Shibuya Scramble Crossing, a true Japanese tale of loyalty and the busiest intersection in the world.

Setting for the NDS game It's a Wonderful World (aka The World Ends with You) for some bonus nerd cred.

Shibuya
109 and 109 Men's, popular shopping spots for Japanese street fashion.
Especially good for those interested in Japanese street fashion, but
want something a bit more everyday wearable even by western standards.

Lots and lots of varied shopping.

Drawbacks

I
don't find the area too interesting? It's not exactly lacking in
attractions, but it just doesn't have the same extremely Japanese
culture experience as some other areas I've covered, whether those
experiences are traditional or very modern, hobby-related experiences.

Nakano

Nerd
heaven #2! Nakano Broadway (a large covered shopping street with a
mall of 2nd hand anime stores attached) is basically the Pacific Mall of
2nd hand anime goods. Nakano Stn is the west most end of the blue
Tozai line on the Metro. In the past, upon deboarding the train, there
was a 50% chance that I would walk in entirely the wrong direction and
wind up extremely confused when I couldn't find the entrance to the
shopping street. Recently, a direct exit from the station has been
created that exits directly to the entrance of Nakano Broadway. This
with the decorated entrance makes it impossible to miss now.

The
actual shopping street is a regular shopping street with restaurants,
generic clothing shops, drug stores and all that jazz. I've never made
it to the anime resale stores near the far end of the shopping street
without being distracted some at least one store in between. It's a
good opportunity to grab a snack from one of the bakeries along the way
so you're re-energized.

The entrance to the mall is via an
escalator and some hidden stairs. They're right next to the Nakano
Broadway information booth. The stair area also lead to the Seiyu on
the basement level. There's a nice bookstore on the 2nd floor and there
are numerous Mandarake's and resale stores.

Most
of the resale stores focus on arcade prizes (never sold via retail) and
gachapons thought they have plenty of other 2nd hand merchandise as
well. Mandarake has several stores here. Each has a different focus;
used manga, doujinshi (fan comics, often yaoi and hentai), vintage toys,
collectible dolls, etc. There are a few more on the 3rd floor, but the
bulk is on the 2nd. If you're after a bargain, you may have to poke
around a little. These stores are crammed full of merchandise and
goodies so you never know where you'll find a magically marked down rare
item.

On
your way out, right near the bottom of the up escalator/stairs (you'll
have to take the elevator or stairs down) is my favourite conveyor belt
sushi restaurant...the one that delivers your food on a tiny
shinkensen. The food is standard, the cost on the low end and they
offer both food off a standard convoyor belt or via shinkensen. Each
seat has a touch screen that you can order off of. The menu is
bilingual, but the best is that every item also comes with pictures.
It's extremely foreigner-friendly. It also gives the option of
requesting no wasabi be placed inside the sushi. Unlike sushi here, the
wasabi is not offered separately, but rather, a small dab is smeared on
each piece. There are some types that don't come with wasabi (ie.
inari-zushi, sushi rice in a sweet marinated fried tofu skin pouch; tamago, sweet rolled egg on sushi rice, and most varieties that are made
with cooked fish), but the rest will all have a small hidden smear.
Anything you order off the touch screen will be delivered from the
kitchen in the back via tiny shinkensen. It will stop right in front of
your seat as the delivery train is linked to the touch screen at each
seat. When you've removed your plates from the train, press the little
lit up button above the train to send it back to the kitchen so they can
serve the next order in the queue.

Convenient area for general (every day) shopping and convenient+inexpensive restaurants.

A nice place to spend some time during periods of bad weather.

Accessible
by Tokyo Metro with direct covered access from the train station (so
the basement dwellers can protect their skin from every scrap of UV light).

Drawbacks

Subway/train
access isn't the most convenient. Not directly accessible by JR and
Metro requires a slight detour from the other popular destinations on
the west side of town.

Not as massive as it once was.

That's
all. Hope someone got some use out of my inane rambling. If you
enjoyed my guide and wish to show your gratitude, I accept tips in the
form of cat memes, postcards and corn potage hard candy from Daiso (you
have no idea how much I love these, and how much pain it causes me that I
can't buy them anywhere at home).

2 comments:

Sorry about the extremely delayed response. The Shinjuku West Yodobashi actually removed the gachapon from the location it used to be in (in the game building) and moved it right across the street into a small, but dedicated location that has a few gachapon machines in the tiny storefront at ground level and the bulk of the machines in the basement. The game building still has a large row of gachapon machines outside the length of the store which is a great indicator that you're in the right location, since the Shinjuku West Yodobashi is comprised of so many buildings within those few blocks.

About Me

I've been wearing lolita since 2004 and this is my frugal lolita shopping blog. I'm a mod for the EGL Comm Sales on Livejournal and a self-proclaimed cheap-ass shopaholic. Join me as I attempt to fill my closet with brand while recording my obsession along the way. Beware, TL;DR and random math ahead.